by Elena Lawson
But hearing a man like him say “fucking?”
It did things to me. Things that I brushed beneath the proverbial rug and shrugged off. Thinking about fucking in the same sentence as the name Everett should be the furthest thing from my mind right now. I’d just learned inhuman creatures exist, after all.
Jasper gently grabbed my arm, fingers feather soft, and helped me back to my seat. I couldn’t dare meet any of the gazes I could feel burning a hole in my head. The judgement. The anger. The confusion.
They thought I was insane.
Hell, maybe I was.
I felt insane, as if my entire world had tilted on its axis. I couldn’t differentiate left from right anymore, up from down. Everything had descended into chaos, and it was impossible to break free of the dissonance.
“You said…” I took a deep, steadying breath. Jasper moved behind me, a feat I heard rather than saw, returning to his seat at the table. “You said that we’re not alone. What do you mean? Like aliens?”
“Aliens?” Alex asked. I chanced a peek through my fringe of lashes to see the Scot leaning indolently back in his chair. His eyes were intent on mine, bruising. I felt as if I was stripped bare, naked for everyone to see. Ironic, considering I had never worn so many layers of clothing before.
“Explain,” I said to Jasper, ignoring Alex’s penetrating stare.
“There are…people who can turn into wolves.” His words came out in a rush. “They’re been known for centuries as the Enduran race. But mostly people call them shifters now.”
I risked a second glance at the men to see all eyes on me. Except for Ellis. His gaze was fixed pointedly on the table.
Fuck.
I knew my words had hurt him, but I hadn’t known or even suspected how much.
Before I could apologize again, Jasper’s next words sent an icy chill skating down my back. It felt as if I was standing in a frozen tundra with the wind whipping my hair into a frenzy. My stomach bottomed out, fear assaulting my every sense.
“There are other…people who are capable of drinking blood. They move faster than any human. Are stronger.” Jasper met my gaze resolutely. “We call them Vocari.”
I turned the word over and over in my head. It sounded like…
I gulped, swallowing hard. My hands clenched so tightly my fingernails dug into my skin leaving behind crescent shaped indents. I pulled at the skin, wishing to externalize my internal pain.
It almost sounded like Jasper said vampires existed. Vampires and…werewolves? It was laughable. Things like that didn’t exist, not really. They were stories I read in my romance novels. The dashing vampire prince seducing the unsuspecting mortal. A fairytale romance. But that was all it was…a story. A nightmare. Vampires and werewolves didn’t exist any more than monsters hid beneath my bed. It just wasn’t possible…or plausible.
But…
Time traveling existed, didn’t it?
Who was to say there weren’t other forms of hidden magic in this messed up world?
I processed Jasper’s words—or, at the very least, I tried to. I twisted his words until they were something I could vaguely understand, could relate to.
Not vampires but Vocari. That was what he called them. Not werewolves but Endurans, or shifters.
I was spinning, spinning, spinning, and no matter how many times I grasped at air, I never caught anything. I couldn’t orient myself, couldn’t free myself from the whirlpool.
“That’s…that was the thing in the forest. The person. The people,” I whispered, glancing at Everett, tripping over my words. He was still standing behind Ellis, but his face could’ve been carved from stone. For a moment, he met my gaze, face impassive. Finally, he nodded. A single bob of his head that altered my entire fucking world.
“They’re not all bad,” Jasper said soothingly. He leaned across the table; hand extended as if he wished he could interlock his fingers with mine. He stopped millimeters from touching me, but the heat his hand emitted was almost tangible. I shivered. “Not all shifters are bad, just like not all humans are good. There are various facets in every aspect of human nature. Just because they’re different doesn’t make them bad. Not like Davey and his little ragtag group.”
I nodded my head once, twice, three times, until I was sure I resembled a bobble head. I couldn’t seem to stop. Nodding, blinking, breathing…those were the only things I was capable of doing.
Ellis signed something to the others, dark fingers moving rapidly, and all three of the other men nodded.
“Ellis is right,” Jasper said cajolingly. “You’re tired. Come. Let’s get you to sleep, and we’ll discuss this in the morning.”
Get me to sleep.
As if I was a fucking baby being tucked in at night instead of a grown-ass woman. A grown-ass woman who was from the twenty-first century.
It was suddenly too much. This conversation. Jasper’s confession. The meeting with Dave (Davey?) and his hairy gang. And now they were going to treat me like I was some porcelain doll? I’m from the fucking future, I wanted to shout at them. I fell one-hundred-thirty-something damned years back in time, and did I shatter? No. I was still here, in one piece.
But here was the last place I wanted to be right now, staring at their worried, pain-stricken faces in the flickering glow of the candlelight. In this oppressively hot dining room. Ugh. I needed to get out of here.
I needed…
To go home?
That didn’t sit well in my stomach, churning the contents until I was nauseous.
I found myself on my feet, backing away until I hit the wall.
“Luv,” Alex chided, a surprising amount of gentleness in his voice.
“I need…I need to go.”
“Where?” Everett growled. “You still don’t remember your past, and it’s getting dark.”
“Let’s just go to bed, all of us, and we’ll discuss it in the morning,” added Jasper calmingly. Ellis was signing, but when I stared at his hands blankly instead of responding, frustration leaked through his calm facade.
“Beck!” Everett bellowed, rising from his seat, but I was already running towards the front door, wrenching it open, and barreling down the steep stone steps.
Away. Away. Away.
That one word echoed, reverberated in my mind. It was all I could hear. All I could focus on.
Somebody yelled my name just as the forest came into view. I didn’t hesitate, dodging into the tapestry of rich yellow and dark red leaves. Skeletal branches snagged my clothing and scraped my cheeks. I was dimly aware I was barefoot, grit and other unsavory substances digging into the soles of my feet.
Still, I ran.
Away. Away. Away.
Maybe if I just kept running, I would find…
Fuck, what did I expect to find?
Doesn’t matter.
Away, that’s what mattered right now.
Night plunged the forest into darkness, and it somehow seemed even more malevolent than during the day. Anything could be lurking behind the trees, the immense rocks, the weedy grounds.
The wind whistling through the boning in my corset and swirling around my ankles beneath the hem of my dress felt so refreshing I almost moaned. And even though the corset was constricting my breath, the burn in my chest and calves felt familiar. I’d been an age since I’d trained with Nico and it seemed my body had begun to soften again.
I aimed to rectify that, pushing past my limits, sailing through the darkened trees, not even wincing as the branches scraped at my arms and flicked their pointed fingers at my cheeks.
I didn’t stop until I reached what appeared to be a small stream, no doubt an extension of the Thames. I collapsed onto my knees in the dirt, not caring that the beautiful dress would be ruined from the dampened soil and clay.
How did this become my life?
I was a nobody. A broken girl with no true family. Completely and utterly normal.
And now? Now, I didn’t understand anything in my life. Not my pu
rpose - so astronomically insignificant. Not my surroundings. Nothing.
So many questions bombarded me, but I couldn’t slow my thoughts down for me to catch one and answer it. Instead I just sat there, trying to catch my breath, a horrible stitch in my side and the cold seeping into my knees. A horrible throbbing beginning somewhere behind my ocular cavities.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, the wind shaking the branches and crinkling the leaves. It could’ve been a minute; it could’ve been an hour.
All I knew was that darkness completely doused the forest and a sliver of golden moon appeared in the sky.
I needed to head back. The men would be worried. Well, not Everett. He would probably be celebrating.
I stood up, dusting the dirt off my dress, when the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me.
But not just watching. Like an owl in a tree, curious. The feeling hollowed a pit in my stomach and made my skin bristle more than just from the chill of the late hour.
It was unlike anything I had ever felt before, and every nerve ending in my body burned white hot. I spun on the balls of my feet, my hands raised to protect myself.
The forest was quiet, almost unnaturally so.
I felt it in my bones, seeping through my skin and muscle, that I wasn’t alone. Someone - something - was here with me.
A moment later, my theory was confirmed when the branches were pushed out of the way and a striking man stepped through the brush. The moonlight illuminated an angular jaw, shock of dark hair, and eyes that appeared almost black in the darkness. He smiled, revealing sharp incisors.
“Hello, love,” he cooed. “Thought I caught a whiff of someone out here all alone. Not lost, are you?”
Warning bells rang in my head.
I turned to run, to escape, but immediately ran into a second body. Large brown eyes peered back at me. Eyes that seemed to glow with a banked fire. As I watched, both horrified and transfixed, dark fur erupted on his arms and neck.
He was one of them.
I gulped, spinning back towards the handsome man.
There was nowhere to go, nowhere to escape to.
I was surrounded.
Chapter 18
BECK
“What do you want from me?” I was grateful when my voice didn’t shake. Instead, I raised my chin and met his dark gaze. In the scarce moonlight, I couldn’t tell for certain what color his eyes were. They could’ve been a light, piercing blue or even an emerald green. Instead, I was reminded of tumbling face first into a black abyss. A pit of tar. Nothing but darkness stared back at me, shadows somehow making the already scary man appear more menacing.
He took a step closer, his hands moving to rest in his pockets.
“I just want to talk, sweet girl,” he cooed, and his voice made goosebumps explode on my skin. I took a step back, mindful of the…the shifter at my back. I mentally tallied how many were present. Eight. Two behind me. Three to one side. Two to the other. One in front of me.
It would be impossible for me to take them all down, but I would. Or I would die trying.
I balled my hands into fists, and the handsome man’s dark gaze flickered down, lips curling upwards in amusement.
“No need to fight. I’m not going to hurt you. Are any of you going to hurt the lady?” he called, directing his attention to his gang of beasts. A smirk was evident in his voice.
The asshole was playing me. Moving me across the board.
But, fuck, I wasn’t some chess piece he could move where he wanted. If the asshole wanted a game, I would be more than willing to play.
“What do you want?” I snapped, tone scathing. Someone behind me released a low growl, but the man held up his hand for silence. Obviously, Tall, Dark, and Handsome was the leader. “What’s your name?”
“William,” he replied, voice tinged with amusement.
“Okay, Willy, what do you want?” As I talked, I surveyed the scene once more. While the bodies surrounding me were large and heavily muscled, no doubt making formidable foes, I was smaller and fast. If I could just duck past them…
“You met our friend, David, didn’t you?” William said.
Dave. David. Davey.
Honestly, the man had more nicknames than I did.
“I don’t remember,” I lied, shifting from foot to foot. “What did he look like again?”
The slap came with a blistering speed. Oddly enough, it felt blistering, searing my skin like a brand of hot lava. I cried out, hand immediately moving to cover the sensitive skin. Something wet trickled from the flesh. Pulling my hand back, I stared down in wonder and horror.
In the moonlight, it was impossible to be certain, but it almost appeared to be blood. My blood. Another touch to my cheek confirmed the thick liquid was coating my skin, dripping from five wounds to my face. Five claw wounds.
William pulled his hand back, claws retracting into his fingers. He wore a mask of nonchalance, but his eyes burned cruelly.
Any and all doubt I had dissipated.
Jasper was telling the truth.
The supernatural existed. The man before me wasn’t human. He was a fucking wolf in human clothing.
A part of me had accepted his explanation, but a larger part of me had rebelled. It seemed too surreal to blindly believe, too fake. A fabricated story. But now, the truth took the form of a six-foot man with arresting black eyes, a chiseled jawline, and claws for hands. It was impossible not to notice, not to believe.
I staggered back another step, whimpering.
“What do you want?” I repeated, but my voice held no ire. I was terrified. This man would not hesitate to hurt me to get what he wanted. And I believed he would not hesitate to kill me either, whether that be at the hands of one of his goonies or his own claws.
What did they say about dogs? That they can smell fear?
I must be reeking with it.
“David has a message for those boys of yours.” His face twisted into an ugly sneer. “The package was defective. Next time, it’s a life we will take as restitution.”
Before I could comprehend his words—hell, before I could even scream—I was gripped between two strong men. Unnaturally strong. Their nails dug into my skin drawing blood.
I was dragged unceremoniously across the dirt and up to William. With the men—the shifters—holding me from underneath the elbow, my feet were off the ground. As such, I was at eye-level with the beautiful, dangerous man.
His eyes were green, almost moss-like in appearance.
“What are you going to do to me?” I asked breathlessly. My whole body shook, a direct contradiction to my surprisingly steady voice. Fear like no other chilled me to my very core. I did my best not to show it. I was a trained fighter. I didn’t cower. And I hated that I couldn’t rid myself of the fist of ice clenching my heart in a vice of unyielding dread.
What were they planning on doing to me?
Hurt me?
Torture me?
Kill me?
There was another option, but the mere prospect had my throat closing up and tears rushing to my eyes. I squeezed my eyelids shut and turned my face away.
“Hey, look at me.” A rough hand grabbed my chin, demanding obedience. With considerable strength, my head was wrenched straight ahead. “Look. At. Me.”
Each word was a threat. A promise dripping with malice.
“I said look at me!”
Finally—reluctantly—I peeled open my eyelids. William stared back at me, anger brewing just beneath the surface. He looked wildly unhinged. A ticking time bomb. A fuse just waiting to be detonated.
“Fuck you,” I said bitterly before spitting in his face.
Sometimes, it was difficult to remember I was supposed to be a lady in the eighteen hundreds, and the initial shock showed on his face.
But the ladies where I came from? We kicked the balls of the guys hurting us. Female didn’t mean docile and obedient anymore. And I’d be dam
ned if I was going to go down in a sniveling, shaking, horror-stricken heap.
William’s eyes were comically wide as he wiped away the spit on his cheek. His gaze volleyed between the wetness coating his fingers, my face, and then back to his fingers. Anger quickly changed into lust. The damn horny bastard was getting turned on.
“The lady is a feisty one,” he said with a humorless laugh. “Let’s play a game, shall we?” He directed his attention towards the two hooligans holding me. “Release her.”
They did so, and I staggered forward, my body aching fierce from the position they held me in. Crafting my face into an impassive mask, I chanced a glance at William.
“A game?”
“A game,” he repeated, a sly, taunting smirk playing on his beautiful lips. “You have a one minute head start.”
“A what?” I asked, but my feet were already carrying me backwards.
“Fifty-five seconds,” William drawled lazily. The surrounding men released a whoop, low growls emanating from their chests. I glanced wide-eyed from one man to another, searching for help, but all that met me were similar lust-filled looks.
William licked his lips and his eyes ignited with a glowing fire.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“Forty-five seconds!”
With no other choice, no other option, I turned on my bare feet and ran.
My feet pounded against the rough forested floor, rocks embedding themselves into my skin and branches scratching my soles raw. The pain was barely noticeable as I picked up my pace, dodging behind a swooping branch.
Fuck, where did it come from?
I glanced desperately in both directions, but everything looked the exact fucking same. There was no indication which way I had entered the forest from. The moon cast everything in a silvery glow, but it did little to help orient me. Deciding quickly that moving was better than standing still, I charged to the left.
Branches whipped at my face as I ran, but my legs did not falter. Behind me, I heard the distinct sound of a howl followed immediately by two others. Male laughter joined in, and somehow, that noise was even more terrifying than the howls. At least beasts had an excuse for their behavior.